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I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: and Other Things That Strike Me as Funny | 
 enlarge | Author: Bob Newhart
Publisher: audible.com
Category: Book
List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $13.12
You Save: $11.86 (47%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  52 reviews
Media: Audio Download
ASIN: B000IU3X8S
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Product Description
The first book ever from an icon of American comedy -- a hilarious combination of stories from his career and observations about life That stammer. Those basset-hound eyes. That bone-dry wit. There has never been another comedian like Bob Newhart. His comedy albums, movies, and two hit television series have made him a national treasure and placed him firmly in the pantheon of comedy legends. Who else has a drinking game named after him? And now, at last, Newhart puts his brilliant and hysterical world view on paper. Never a punch-line comic, always more of a storyteller, he tells anecdotes from throughout his life and career, including his beginnings as an accountant and the groundbreaking success of his comedy albums and The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, which gave him fifteen years on primetime television. And he also gives his wry, comedic twist to a multitude of topics, including golf, drinking, and family holidays. Today, Newhart appears on Desperate Housewives, in hit movies such as Elf, and in theaters around the country. Reruns of his shows air constantly on Nick at Nite -- have recently been released with great success for the first time ever on DVD. With this book, Bob Newhart gives his millions of fans a first ever opportunity to sample his unique brand of humor -- including excerpts from some of his classic routines -- on the printed page.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
 A Book As Dull and As Dry As The Comedian December 14, 2008
Bob Newhart's book is as slow-paced and dull as he is a comedian. It proves that he is a better actor than he is a writer, that his success didn't come because of his material but because of his delivery style.
It's a bunch of unconnected ramblings that often don't have a point. He just jumps from thought to thought, not really saying much of anything.
We learn a little about his life, such as the fact that he was called by his first name "George" into his adulthood, that he didn't have a driver's license until he was married & 32, and that he bluffed his way through the military without seeing any Korean combat. The few stories in the book (marriage, childbirth, family trips, etc.) are so exaggerated for comedic purposes that the reader is unsure whether to believe anything about what Newhart writes. There's not much here to appreciate about the guy as he name drops the famous people he hangs out with without revealing anything significant about them or himself.
Even more disappointing is that the book starts out with some semi-trashy humor and even the title of the book refers to the punch line of a trashy joke. For a man who likes to claim he is "PG" in his comedy, the book starts out more PG-13 and reveals that Newhart's private humor is more adult than what we see on stage.
The book is filled with long copies of his routines and that will satisfy die-hard Newhart fans. But on paper the ramblings are dry and need his trademark verbal timing.
So the book ends up being much ado about nothing. It's only for someone who already adores Newhart before reading it, and even then there's not much to take from it other than a few faded memories. Newhart ends up being a nice guy whose career was built on a comedic style that doesn't translate well to paper.
 Hilarious reading December 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you're a Bob Newhart fan I don't have to tell you how funny he is. This book is written in the same style as his stand-up routines are delivered. Dry, witty and side-splitting. It's good to read some of his older routines which had disappeared over the years as well as his very droll observations on things we take for granted. Very funny reading!!
Bob SHOULD Be Doing This September 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I love Bob Newhart. So, I knew before I bought this book that I would enjoy it. It's not a boring autobiography with every detail of his life and his ancestor's lives. Rather, the book gives some tid-bits of Bob's history along with life observations and scripts to some funny routines. It is well-written and clearly "Bob Newhart Style"--easy to imagine him reading it to you. Job well done!
Biography mixed with bits...good! May 25, 2008
29 out of 30 found this review helpful
While I don't read show biz biographies--heaven knows theres too many of them and those subjects are already over-idolized--I saw this one. Newhart has always been my favorite "clean" comic. That doesn't mean I don't like, say, Lenny Bruce. But, say, Eddie Murphy and George Carlin overdo the "let's be audacious" thing. Newhart doesn't need to do that.
What's more, I've always wanted to learn a little about what makes a comedian's mind tick. (Though Newhart explains in one chapter that if he sees another book on the science of comedy, he's going to "throw up.")
Actually, Newhart is quite eloquent. His vocabulary impressed me. There is, of course, name dropping, but it doesn't come across that way. He has a chapter, for example, on golf, those with whom he'd golf and witty anecdotes about other golfers, like Dean Martin--and an interesting story about Clark Gabel and Robert Wagner.
Interspersed with the biography are many of his bits. But he adds to them. Like I've always liked his "airline and stormdoor company" bit. He adds a little about the real flight, on a C47 with seats bolted down--when the aircraft did cargo flights the seats were taken out.
He does talk about both of his television shows. While I'm not a TV watcher and don't think I ever saw either of them all the way through, he even explains a little about how each show came about--and how his wife offered the plot of the finale of all of them.
Oh, and the one I "read" was an abridged, CD version. I couldn't imagine reading this, but Newhart read it with his usual, stammering version, part of his bit. (Indeed, he distinguishes at the beginning of the book between stammering, which he does, and stuttering.
Overall, it's a lot of fun. And you might even learn a little, about his background, about what makes things funny--and about the political correctness that pervades a bit too much of our society. (Yes, I even admit that!) As Newhart says, we need to laugh at ourselves too!
poolside fun May 15, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Fun book, easy to pack. Better for someone old enough to remember Bob Newhart era of 60's, 70's & 80's!
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